A.G. Schneiderman, Gascón: Google, Microsoft will include a smartphone kill switch in next operating systems

Submitted

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San
Francisco District Attorney George Gascón have announced that, for the first
time, Google and Microsoft will incorporate a "kill switch" into the next
version of their respective operating systems. Google's operating system,
Android, runs on more than half of all smartphones used in the U.S. Microsoft's
operating system is on all Nokia smartphones.

The announcement means a kill switch will be
incorporated into the three dominant smartphone operating systems - Android,
iOS and Windows Phone - which currently encompass 97 percent of smartphones in
the U.S.

"The commitments of Google and Microsoft are
giant steps toward consumer safety, and the statistics released today
illustrate the stunning effectiveness of kill switches," Schneiderman said. "In just one year,
the 'Secure Our Smartphones' initiative has made tremendous strides towards
curtailing the alarming trend of violent smartphone theft. We will continue the
fight to ensure that companies put consumers' safety first and work toward
ending the epidemic of smartphone theft. "

The new report, "Secure Our Smartphone
Initiative: One Year Later," includes previously unreleased data from the New
York City Police Department, as well as the police departments of San Francisco
and London. The new statistics describe the scope of the smartphone theft
epidemic and validate the kill switch as an effective part of a multi-layered
approach to combatting smartphone crimes. The statistics also validate the
necessity of a ubiquitous opt-out solution.

In New York City, theft of iPhones fell
significantly after the release of Apple's activation lock on Sept. 18. In the
first five months of 2014, robberies and grand larcenies involving Apple
products dropped 19 percent and 29 percent, respectively, compared to the same
time period from 2013. The decrease in Apple thefts far surpassed the citywide
decrease in all robberies (minus 10 percent) and all grand larcenies (minus 18
percent). Perhaps most tellingly, robberies and grand larcenies from a person
involving a Samsung smartphone, which did not have a kill switch during much of
this time, increased by over 40 percent. (Samsung introduced a kill switch
solution in April of 2014 on Verizon Wireless devices, the impact of which will
likely be seen in future statistics.)

Statistics from San Francisco and London show
similar outcomes. In San Francisco, iPhone robberies declined 38 percent, while
robberies of Samsung devices increased by 12 percent. In London, Apple thefts
declined by 24 percent, while Samsung thefts increased by 3 percent. (In both
cities, data from six months leading up to Apple's activation lock was compared
to the six months following its introduction.)

"We can make the violent epidemic of smartphone
theft a thing of the past, and these numbers prove that," Gascón said. "It was evident from day
one that a technological solution was not only possible, but that it would
serve as an effective deterrent to this growing threat. This past year, we
successfully held the wireless industry's feet to the fire, and it's already
having an impact for consumers. In the year ahead we will work to ensure this
technology is deployed industry-wide, and in the most effective manner
possible."

"In the year since London joined with our
friends and colleagues in the U.S. in the 'Secure Our Smartphones' coalition,
we've made significant progress in reducing the number of smartphone thefts,
which have been a shared problem across our cities," said London Mayor Boris Johnson."By
making the phone manufacturers face up to the responsibility they have to their
customers, technology that previously attracted thieves is now being used to
deter them. The 'SOS' has shown that the only solutions to these global
problems are ones developed globally, and Londoners and I look forward to further
progress as we enter our second year."

Richard Aborn, president
of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, said, "Cell phone
theft has become a major public safety issue in New York and across the
country. Unfortunately, these robberies often become violent and put innocent
people at serious risk. The crime commission is proud to have been a part of
the 'S.O.S.' initiative from the beginning, and we are encouraged by the
positive impact it has had on this crime trend in such a short time under the
leadership of Attorney General Schneiderman. There is still much to do,
however, to protect citizens in our city and elsewhere from cell phone theft.
Local law enforcement, Congress, and hardware and software companies must work
together to make stealing a smartphone a worthless endeavor for
criminals."

In the year since its inception, the "S.O.S." initiative
has spurred a major shift in the wireless industry, evidenced by several
tangible accomplishments:

•In September, just three months after "S.O.S."
began its efforts, Apple unveiled "activation lock," a proof-of-concept kill
switch available on all iPhones running the iOS 7 operating system with "Find
My iPhone" enabled. In April, Samsung introduced "reactivation lock."

•Earlier this year, "S.O.S." worked with
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Representative Jose Serrano to introduce companion
federal legislation to require carriers and manufacturers to make kill switch
anti-theft solutions mandatory for all smartphones in the U.S. On May 15, Minnesota
became the first state to mandate a kill switch on all phones.

•In April, the industry group CTIA
abandoned its long-held opposition to a kill switch and announced a "Smartphone
Anti-Theft Voluntary Commitment" in which AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S.
Cellular, Verizon Wireless and others pledged to implement a kill switch
solution on an opt-in basis.

The work of the "S.O.S." initiative continues.
With the majority of phones still without a kill switch, smartphone-related
thefts and violence remain a reality. Criminals now target devices not likely
to be equipped with a kill switch, increasing the importance of immediately
implementing the life-saving technology across all manufacturers. Because kill
switches are only available on an opt-in basis, not enough consumers are
signing-up. This underscores the urgency of "S.O.S.'s" call to make kill
switches a standard opt-out function on all phones.